Lunar Eclipse
by blader4411
Summary: Banished and destined not to set hoof upon Equestria for a thousand years, it may seem like the end for Nightmare Moon. Yet she shall soon learn that every star has a story, and that the moon reflects the stars in all save their inhabitant.


Lunar Eclipse

**Prologue:**

_Once upon a time, in the magical land of __Equestria__, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn. The younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects: all the different types of ponies. _

_But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon. She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night. _

_Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: The Elements of Harmony! Using the magic of The Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since._

This old story of the Mare in the Moon has been told and retold over countless years, from mare to filly for countless generations; such that the events described have long since transcended to folklore and myth. And yet, although Nightmare Moon was not to return for a thousand long years, this did not mean that she had slept until then, as many believed in hindsight. For every star has a story, yet the moon reflected such stars in all ways but one; the moon was inhabited, and the setting for a story unseen by the inhabitants of Equestria.

Light? Why was there light? The first thought of Nightmare Moon as she woke; was that she had been cheated again. Despite all her work; the sun was still up, taunting her with its brightness. A spark of resentment ignited within her chest, yet for the most part the young Princess of the Night was confused. Though the sun was still up; she could not remember why this was, for the memories were only a blur in her mind. Still confused, Nightmare Moon tried to stand up, yet her legs buckled and dropped her right back onto the ground.

Frustrated and more than a little afraid of her current weak state, she looked around and snorted. All around her there was no life; no vitality or signs of inhabitants. All that surrounded her was dry rock in various shades of grey, stretching as far as her eyes could see. She slowly turned, trying to bring more feeling into her legs, and saw only more rocks. Where in Equestria had she ended up? Nightmare Moon could remember touring much of the kingdom that she blessed with her night; yet never had there been a landscape so barren.

Was this perhaps some dark, unexplored part of the world? She had heard that alien landscapes could be found deep within the Everfree forest, or beyond the mountains in the far north, even further than Stalliongrad. But if that were true, how had she ended up here? What had happened? Gritting her teeth in frustration, Nightmare Moon tried to piece together the fragments within her mind, yet try as she might; nothing could be discerned from her scattered thoughts. Yet Nightmare Moon would not give up so easily, and bent all her focus towards this task.

Time passed, yet the Princess of the Moon paid it no heed, consumed as she was with her quest for self-discovery. Thus, it was not until a shadowy covered her, and the temperature noticeably dropped that Nightmare Moon could be persuaded to open her eyes and look up at the sky. An orb was slowly coming into view over the horizon, even as the sun dropped lower. Surprised and curious despite herself, Nightmare Moon reached out with her magic, trying to feel the connection she shared with the moon, yet her reach seemed trapped to the ground beneath her, unable to touch the orb above. A terrifying thought seized her at this; had she lost all her powers, even that of the moon?

Willing herself not to panic, Nightmare Moon kept her gaze intently upon the arriving moon, even as her mind screamed words of betrayal to the orb drifting slowly into sight. Yet even in her anger, she could feel that something was wrong. For one, the approaching moon looked far too large than normal, even during nights with a full moon. Thinking back to what she knew on astronomy, this could mean she was very far north, with a better angle to view the moon; which might also explain the barren land around her.

But another peculiarity quickly made itself known; in the form of strange drifting forms across the orb's surface. Now Nightmare Moon was again more confused than angry, having never remembered seeing such oddities in all her time spent crafting the night. Could this be the meddling of Celestia? Interfering with her most beloved of creations? A surge of anger rocked Luna, and with it came the instinctive power she wielded. Reaching out, Luna was determined to find the reason for this change; and through her power commanded the moon to brighten, to show the changes wrought to its mistress.

Nightmare Moon felt the power leave her; and waited intently for the orb in the sky to brighten as it felt a command. Thus it was with a shock that the earth under her hooves lightened a moment later, with a pale, iridescent blue glow that reminded her of a barely lit ocean. Yet this shock was for all it's power, but a shadow of what Nightmare Moon felt when she looked at the orb above her; now illuminated by the glow beneath her, and glimpse the movement of clouds.

As the orb in the sky approached closer, blocking off the view of the Sun, Nightmare Moon could make out even more. Forested stretches of green revealed themselves to her sight, along with the massive expanses of blue that she knew to be oceans. Here and there, protrusions could be found; as cold as the rock under her hooves; that she recognized as mountains. And upon one mountain, a glittering jewel could be found, bringing an angry tear to Nightmare Moon's eye as she recognized what had once been her home. Canterlot; glittering in the sky above. But if that orb in the sky held Canterlot, then it was Equestria. Which would make where she was…

Everything fell into place, the truth hitting her with enough force to put most meteors to shame. The fact that everything around her was bleak rock; that her power could only touch the ground she was on and not the orb above. She was not looking up at the moon. She was on it! For a long moment, Nightmare Moon merely stared up, too shocked to react. But slowly, as the truth of her location sunk in, the ember that burned within her heart grew, fed by the flame of anger and hatred until it became an inferno.

Bolting upright with renewed strength, Nightmare Moon stretched her wings wide, and took off into the sky, flying directly up towards Equestria. But for all her hate-fuelled strength, she had gotten no further than a hundred odd metres off the ground when she slammed into an invisible barrier. The initial impact knocked the wind out of her lungs, and it was not until she had dropped twenty metres that Nightmare Moon managed to right herself again. Once more she went for the barrier, albeit more cautiously this time, but to the same result.

Burning with frustration, Nightmare Moon flew left for some time before trying again to ascend, but yet again the barrier held her close to the moon. Again and again Nightmare Moon tried, but to no avail. As Equestria settled into place, obscuring all view of the Sun, she finally realized what had happened.

"Banished…" The word seared her lips as she choked it out. Shocked beyond measure by this realization, Nightmare Moon no longer tried to keep herself aloft, crashing back to the moonscape with a dull thud. As she lay there; gazing upon the sky above, the full Lunar Eclipse began, obscuring the moon from the view of those on Equestria, even as it's mistress began her new life, away from all whom had loved her.


End file.
